Apportion the blame between North and South
for this debacle of more than fleeting magnitude.

MPs, unfavorable

J1063
K9642
---
K1064

Q97
J
Q987652
J9

Partner

Declarer

You

Dummy

1

2

2

4

All Pass

You lead the Q-3-4-5.
Signals are standard.
Over to you.

IMPs, short matches, each team needs
a blitz to do anything, E/W vul:

xx
Jx
K1098xx
Q10x

AJ10
9xx
Jxx
Jxxx

KQ9x
AK10
Qxx
Kxx

xxxx
Qxxxx
A
Axx

South

West

North

East

1NT

Pass

3

Pass

3

All Pass

1NT was 10-12 systemically, but not announced.
If 1NT was strong, 3 was natural invitational;
if 1NT was weak, it was either shortness in hearts with
a long suit and a strong hand, or desire to play 3.
South is expected to bid 3NT with KQx (or so)
and 3 otherwise. Followups are: pass with hearts, 3NT
with a stiff heart and a long minor (so that South can
pass with something like the actual hand, although 3NT initially
is reasonable anyway), or the suit in question with a void heart.

1NT was not announced. 3 was alerted. East asked;
South explained the agreement as it would be over a
10-12 NT. 3 wasn't alerted (it should have been).
East called the director when North passed. East
eventually passed. South immediately re-called
the director and explained the announcement failure
and the systemic agreements in each case.

How do you rule? Be careful, this may be a little
trickier than it looks.